Hilachas is the Spanish word for those little loose threads that fall all over the floor and sewing area as you finish sewing and snip the tail end of the thread off the sewn area. So does this blog entail the odds and ends of topics of interest, leaving more loose threads to ponder...

Thursday, November 29, 2012

God saved you by his grace when you
believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. ~ Ephesians
2:8, NLT

Ok, so I made these little mini quilts as
Christmas gifts a few years ago and gave one to my sister, Ida from "My sister made me do it...." Well,
now Ida "made me" enter one of the little mini quilts I made in the "2012
Christmas Quilt Show" so here it is. I called it the "Southwest Snowman" and
being from Texas where it rarely snows, it is quite appropriately
named.

It was quite easy to just cut the pieces
out "free hand" and applique them on a sandy-looking background.

Visit this link and
see all the beautiful Christmas enteries in the "2012
Christmas Quilt Show." There are also lots of prizes being given away and
you don't even need to enter anything in the show in order to win.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

We're back in El Paso. We didn't do well hunting during November. Hunting season will continue through the second week of January so we may have another chance to return to the Texas Hill Country to hunt whitetail deer or feral hogs.

I did a lot of hand-sewing on the 6-hour road trip back to El Paso. I worked on applique for my entry in the "Third Annual Neighborhood Party" which is a house block lotto. This is the second year I've entered. Participants send in a house block. There are usually about 3 winners who receive enough blocks to make a quilt top. I believe it's not too late to enter yet. Picture in a future post...

Then, of course, I worked on my flowers for "One Flower Wednesday" where each week Karen provides a linky for us to show our flowers. Here are 3 little 1/2-inch hexies made of 1930s fabric.

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Don't love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, I will never fail you. I will never abandon you. ~ Hebrews 13:5, NLT

We've had no luck hunting this week. My husband, grandson, and son-in-law are off to the blind right now to continue trying. My daughter and I are definitely not "morning hunters" so we're staying home this morning.

I sewed up two hexagon blocks. I will use them along with my other "Hexathon" blocks. I can't decide which I like better. I tried to get the sky and rock formation effects in. Whatever.... (Don't you hate it when someone uses that word? Me too. Sorry.)

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Thanksgiving is almost here. It's one of my all time favorite holidays. I love sharing a meal that I've prepared with my loved ones and just being together is a big plus. My daughter and family are with us this year. Each year, we have too much food left over at the end of their visit so this year, we prepared the "big meal" on Wednesday so we have more days left to finish leftovers. So from today through Sunday, its turkey and all the trimmings every day for every meal. We all love it that way. No more cooking and lots of good eating.

Yesterday we drove to Del Rio, Texas, the closest bigger town, and picked up a few things. It's a 2-hour round trip so I was able to sew two hexie flowers to show you for "One-Flower Wednesday." These flowers will be for my November partner in the"Inchy Hexagon Flower Swap." She asked for a fussy cut stripe so I hope she will like these.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Our daughter, son-in-law, and grandson arrived last evening. They're all getting dressed and getting ready for the day so I have a few minutes to write something for my blog. Well, what I really want to do is show you this little coin purse I made. My sister from "My Sister Made Me Do it" kind of made me do it. She made a beautiful coin purse, showed me how it's done and even gave me the hardware to make my own so, what could I do? It looked like a lot of trouble but wasn't much trouble at all. The only frustrating part was sewing the little frame on but I finally figured it out and I'm ready to make another one. I was wanting to make something for the "Carol Doak It's in the Bag Challenge"where you have to make a purse of some kind using a Carol Doak paper-pieced block. I chose this little doll from "Carol Doak's 300 Paper-Pieced Blocks" book. Anyway, here it is. My next one will be better.

Saturday, November 17, 2012

I am leaving you with a gift-peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid. ~ John 14:27, NLT

Yes, we've had a lot of company lately and next my daughter and her family are coming for a week-long Thanksgiving visit. They'll be here tomorrow so we're excited. This visit will include our daughter, son-in-law, and grandson. Between the visit of my sister and my daughter, I've gotten in a little sewing time. I worked on "My Jane," too long neglected, and produced 2 blocks. I have RS-2 and G-2 to show you.

RS-2 looks better than shown in photo. Really.

G-2

I've also started working on a quilt that Mama is making. Her arthritis is acting up so I offered to help her quilt it. I told her that lots of people send their quilts out to the long-arm quilter so it still counts that she made it if I help her quilt it and she finally gave in and let me help. She has the top all put together (beautiful appliqued leaves) and has her batting and backing so...here I go. Just look at this gorgeous top.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

For the Lord God is our sun and our
shield. He gives us grace and glory.~ Psalm 84:11a, NLT

My sister Ida from "My Sister Made Me Do It...." and my nephew Josh visited us at our
little ranch in Rocksprings. As usual, she
came bearing gifts! Look at this loot:

She brought patterns, quilt labels, fabric and charm
squares, hardware for me to make a
little coin purse, and a great gel-roller pen for writing on fabric.

We had a great time.
We went out hunting trying to find feral hogs but had no luck. Of
course, with all the socializing going on in the blind, any game around
probably knew it was not wise to venture into our vicinity. We did take time to take photos and here we
are:

Yes, it was cold in the Texas Hill Country but you can see by those smiles that we were not bothered by the cold.

Monday, November 12, 2012

It's getting cold in the Texas Hill Country. Yesterday it was sunshiney and beautiful, today it's cold. A bright spot in the day, My sister Ida from "My sister made me do it..." is on her way to Rocksprings along with my nephew Josh. I've got stew going in the slow cooker and I'm wearing out my eyes looking out the window even though I KNOW it's a 6 1/2 hour trip from El Paso and they won't be in until late afternoon. I'm excited.

I've been getting my little 2.5 inch squares ready to mail for a swap I'm in with the Curious Quilter Postage Stamp Swap so I guess I'll drive into town and mail those. I also finished my mini quilt for the "It's a Mini Quilt-Along." This one is called "Flying Around in Circles" and is made of flying geese. I'm not real good at making flying geese so this was somewhat of a nightmare. I finally finished sewing and un-sewing and re-sewing it. A few of the points got sewn over but, oh well, here it is. It looks real good from a distance :)

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Still no luck hunting. We continue to see doe. We did see a buck last evening but it was too dark to shoot. It seems like they are smart enough to know not to come out in daylight. I guess there are so many people shooting at them during hunting season, that they've learned to hide. My sister is coming to Rocksprings next week along with my nephew. It will be so great if he was able to shoot a buck or a feral hog. My husband and I are all excited to have them. My husband and nephew will enjoy just shooting at targets, much less hunting together so it's all good.

"My Jane" had been thinking I had abandoned her but I've finally gotten back to my sewing machine and completed two of "My Jane" side blocks. These blocks are no harder to sew than the square center blocks but for some reason, I'd rather sew the center blocks. I guess I'd better get over that feeling since there are 52 of those side blocks. The good think is that "Aunt Reen" mixes them in occassionally with the center blocks on her blog "13 Months of Jane." Needless to say, I will not complete "My Jane" in 13 months. I started sewing "My Jane" on my own in May 2011 and then found "Aunt Reen's Tutorial" in May 2012 so I had a head start on Aunt Reen's goal of finishing by June 2013 but I'm already about 30 blocks behind on that goal. Oh well, that gives me a life-time goal to try for. So saying, here are TR-5 and RS-4.

TR-5

RS-4

Now I'm off to do some more sewing since it's looking like a gloomy, windy day here. Good day to stay indoors and sew so...

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

The Lord will work out his plans for my life-for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever. Don't abandon me, for you made me. ~ Psalm 138:8, NLT

Well, after blogging every day for a month on Blogtoberfest, I really took a break but now I'm back for "One Flower Wednesday." I try to never miss that. I have some more little flowers I sewed on the trip to the ranch in the Texas Hill Country. I'm trying to make these from 1930s or feedsack-type fabrics so I do have a plan of sorts. It will take a lot of these little 1/2-inch flowers to make anything....

Click here to see more hexie flowers on Karen's "Journey of a Quilter."

We've been busy hunting for whitetail deer and/or feral hogs but have not had any luck. On the opening weekend, it's always busy around here A lot of our friends from the nearby ranches arrive to hunt and it is non-stop visiting, eating, drinking, and hunting. Our youngest son was up for the weekend and, of course, I loved that. Now things have quieted down since most of the hunters have left and it's just my husband and I. That gives me a chance to get back to my sewing and I do have a long list of projects since I haven't had a chance to sew for ages it seems. I've been working on a mug rug for a swap. This needs to go to Australia so I'm hoping it gets there well before Christmas since it has a Christmas theme. Here's what I made.

Then I need to get back to "My Jane" which has been neglected for almost two months. I have a long list of UFOs that need my attention so I'll have fun sewing while we're at the ranch. Happy sewing to all of you.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Yes! Blogtoberfest is over and I blogged every day in October. And yes, I'm glad it's over. It's hard to do a daily blog so thank you for seeing me through it and for all your encouraging words. Now I can draw a breath and get back to blogging 3 times a week. Congratulations also to my blog friends who completed Blogtoberfest.

I also want to announce the winner of my "Blogtoberfest Charms Giveaway" as chosen by the Random Number Generator.

#5 Jamie Lee said...

I'm a follower! Way to go posting every day! Thanks for the generous giveaway. I love original charm packs!

As soon as i get Jamie Lee's address, the charms will be on their way to her. Thanks to all who participated in the giveaway.